How Silent Fall the Cherry Blossoms
- Thread starter Geon
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of note. Wallance and Truman were completely unaware of the A-Bomb project until Truman became president in 1945 in OTL. wuth FDR incapacitated, was Wallace told about it? And was he told NOT to tell Truman?
Problem with that is that the B-29 just **barely** had the performance to deliver a nuclear weapon and escape the blast. If the older types are close enough to provide useful shielding, they'll be knocked down. If they're far enough to be safe, they don't provide much protection. Realistically, I think you're better off with a large raid going to another city a moderate distance away as a distraction and ensuring you have a large number of fighter sweeps plus a couple of squadrons as close escort on the bomb aircraft well briefed on what to do over target.
If the lone bomber ABSOLUTELY must get through safely, there will be one particular squadron asked to cover it: the 332nd.
Geon
Donor
Update with Patton
I trust all of you will forgive me if I cover this battle more from a strategic rather then tactical aspect. I am not a military historian in the sense that I know what companies, brigades, etc. went with what armies so I am telling the story from the "big picture." If some of you would like to write a story to fill out the details of these battles please feel free but send me the story by PM so I can make sure it matches with what I have planned for this story/tl
Geon
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Date: December 19, 1944
Location: Eastern France near the Rhine
Time: 7:00 a.m. [Belgian time]
General George Patton was heading north as fast as he could and as one of his fellow staffers would later say, “He was out for blood!”
The news from Paris had come as a complete shock to Patton. According to many reliable historical sources, the general went into his private quarters and asked to be alone for a few minutes. When an aide came in to check on the man after fifteen minutes he found the general crying like a little child at his desk. The aide quickly withdrew. It was a full hour before the general emerged. Patton was already engaging the German army at Saarbrucken. But it was clear from the scanty reports he had received that a hole had been torn in the allied lines to the north. Patton had already come up with several contingency plans to meet the threat. The problem was implementing one of them without knowing what other commanders were up to. Most especially Patton needed to know what Montgomery planned. If Montgomery knew he was coming northward he should be sending the majority of this forces straight southward to close the whole in the lines knowing Patton would also be charging forward with the same idea thus cutting off the Germans. But, if the attack had been as successful as scattered reports were indicating then the Germans would by now be well on their way to Antwerp.
Patton knew as well as Montgomery that if Antwerp fell, the Allies would lose a major port and that would be a major setback. Supplies would then have to be trucked in from ports in southern France as they had before Antwerp was taken which would stretch the supply lines to their breaking point. Patton reasoned that Montgomery probably was trying to prepare a defense of Antwerp. Attacking northward into the Ardennes wouldn’t accomplish anything, however moving northwest in the direction of Brussels might catch the rear of the Panzers in a pincer movement.
Patton was now driving northward and would as soon as possible take the first roads to the northwest driving toward Brussels hoping to contact and destroy the rear of the 5th and 6th Panzer Armies.
However, Patton didn’t know that the German Seventh Army now had taken position in front of him. The planners of Watch on the Rhine had already anticipated the possibility of a counterattack from the south. With all opposition in their sector now eliminated they prepared to meet the oncoming elements of the American Third Army. Many of the artillery units in the Seventh Army were armed with mustard gas and were fully prepared to use it. Further, Patton was also about to be greeted by a lady the Allies were coming to despise in this Battle, her name was “Dora.”
I trust all of you will forgive me if I cover this battle more from a strategic rather then tactical aspect. I am not a military historian in the sense that I know what companies, brigades, etc. went with what armies so I am telling the story from the "big picture." If some of you would like to write a story to fill out the details of these battles please feel free but send me the story by PM so I can make sure it matches with what I have planned for this story/tl
Geon
----------------------
Date: December 19, 1944
Location: Eastern France near the Rhine
Time: 7:00 a.m. [Belgian time]
General George Patton was heading north as fast as he could and as one of his fellow staffers would later say, “He was out for blood!”
The news from Paris had come as a complete shock to Patton. According to many reliable historical sources, the general went into his private quarters and asked to be alone for a few minutes. When an aide came in to check on the man after fifteen minutes he found the general crying like a little child at his desk. The aide quickly withdrew. It was a full hour before the general emerged. Patton was already engaging the German army at Saarbrucken. But it was clear from the scanty reports he had received that a hole had been torn in the allied lines to the north. Patton had already come up with several contingency plans to meet the threat. The problem was implementing one of them without knowing what other commanders were up to. Most especially Patton needed to know what Montgomery planned. If Montgomery knew he was coming northward he should be sending the majority of this forces straight southward to close the whole in the lines knowing Patton would also be charging forward with the same idea thus cutting off the Germans. But, if the attack had been as successful as scattered reports were indicating then the Germans would by now be well on their way to Antwerp.
Patton knew as well as Montgomery that if Antwerp fell, the Allies would lose a major port and that would be a major setback. Supplies would then have to be trucked in from ports in southern France as they had before Antwerp was taken which would stretch the supply lines to their breaking point. Patton reasoned that Montgomery probably was trying to prepare a defense of Antwerp. Attacking northward into the Ardennes wouldn’t accomplish anything, however moving northwest in the direction of Brussels might catch the rear of the Panzers in a pincer movement.
Patton was now driving northward and would as soon as possible take the first roads to the northwest driving toward Brussels hoping to contact and destroy the rear of the 5th and 6th Panzer Armies.
However, Patton didn’t know that the German Seventh Army now had taken position in front of him. The planners of Watch on the Rhine had already anticipated the possibility of a counterattack from the south. With all opposition in their sector now eliminated they prepared to meet the oncoming elements of the American Third Army. Many of the artillery units in the Seventh Army were armed with mustard gas and were fully prepared to use it. Further, Patton was also about to be greeted by a lady the Allies were coming to despise in this Battle, her name was “Dora.”
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Even during the War, the 332nd had a reputation for being better than other squadrons at keeping the bombers alive. Its not just George Lucas.
Garrison
Donor
In essence he's trading space for time; the time needed to re-establish proper command and control and co-ordinate a response. I would say the first order of business is to get the Allied fighter-bombers out regardless of the weather conditions.
I also think too much may be being made about "Dora", but Geon has previosuly led is in one direction with his hints and gone in another. However, if the gun is armed with special shells capable of dispersing gas on impact or in air, it might have a broader effect on moving forces than expected. I'm still waiting for Diebner atomic bombs or dirty bombs.
Garrison
Donor
Even only firing at fixed targets it can create still more problems with the command structure and if there are any choke points along the line of advance it can cause trouble there if it can deploy chemical shells.
Agreed, Monty was always a very cautious chap, with second hand reports of gas attacks across the front, German breakthroughs that might or might not exist, communications are shot to bits and he only has a vague idea of what the rest of his allies are doing. It is like the breakthrough at Sedan, and the communications chaos that followed. Rather than attack against unknown odds, Monty is going to fall back, consolidate, and as someone else already pointed out, do what he does best, dig in, hold the line and then counter-attack when the odds favour him.
Of course, in this instance the Germans have chemical weapons to assist in breaking through, but I don't think it will be the game changer that it was at the start of the operation, since now that it's known that the Germans are using chemical weapons, the Allies will be implementing countermeasures, and in three days time the weather starts to clear, and the Luftwaffe can start to come into play. However, the numbers are not in favour for the Germans, strategically they may bloody the Allies a bit more than historically, but with the Soviets on one side and the Allies on the other, well...Doenitz had the right idea.
This TL, and the commentary and input of everybody, is so good! Geon, when you're done with this, you should continue and write at least a summary of the new Cold War.
For someone like me uneducated on the details of WW2, why wouldn't Berlin be a target for an A-Bomb? Wouldn't that also send a strong message to Stalin?
For someone like me uneducated on the details of WW2, why wouldn't Berlin be a target for an A-Bomb? Wouldn't that also send a strong message to Stalin?
How are the Germans going to keep their armoured spearheads supplied when their supply lines are drenched in gas?
I wouldn't expect any used of nukes in Germany either unless their development can be accelerated by several months (which it almost certainly can't).
The use of gas needs suitable delivery systems and the Allies have those in far greater abundance than Germany does.
I wouldn't expect any used of nukes in Germany either unless their development can be accelerated by several months (which it almost certainly can't).
The use of gas needs suitable delivery systems and the Allies have those in far greater abundance than Germany does.
Geon
Donor
Swedish Embassy
And here is a brief update from the Swedish Ambassador's POV.
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Date: December 19, 1944
Location: Washington, D.C. [Swedish Embassy]
Time: 12:00 p.m.
The Swedish ambassador had just returned from an hour long discussion with Vice President Henry Wallace. The Vice President was now clearly the acting president for all intents and purposes until Roosevelt recovered or until he died. Wallace had called the ambassador in to tell him that the ship that had carried out the attack yesterday morning on Boston Harbor was listed as a Swedish cargo ship. He had also informed the ambassador that it appeared the ship had been used as a “false flag,” operation. The question of course was what had happened to the real crew? Wallace was somewhat suspicious of whether the operation had help from sympathetic elements in the Swedish government but he stopped short of accusing Sweden of actually participating in the attack.
The Ambassador for his part was much taken aback by the news. He had asked for and received the name of the ship, Arctic Dream. Now he was going to be sending a coded message back to Stockholm inquiring about Arctic Dream and its crew. The Ambassador was very much concerned. Wallace didn’t believe Sweden was directly involved in the attack on Boston, but he might be afraid that elements of the Swedish government sympathetic to the Nazis were involved. Unless this was cleared up quickly there were going to be at the least major diplomatic consequences to future Swedish-American relations. At the worst, well the Ambassador didn’t want to even consider what the worst case scenario could be.
At the moment Wallace seemed more interested in getting to the bottom of the attack in Boston harbor then placing blame. The Swedish government needed to launch its own investigation and quickly to discover what had happened.
And here is a brief update from the Swedish Ambassador's POV.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Date: December 19, 1944
Location: Washington, D.C. [Swedish Embassy]
Time: 12:00 p.m.
The Swedish ambassador had just returned from an hour long discussion with Vice President Henry Wallace. The Vice President was now clearly the acting president for all intents and purposes until Roosevelt recovered or until he died. Wallace had called the ambassador in to tell him that the ship that had carried out the attack yesterday morning on Boston Harbor was listed as a Swedish cargo ship. He had also informed the ambassador that it appeared the ship had been used as a “false flag,” operation. The question of course was what had happened to the real crew? Wallace was somewhat suspicious of whether the operation had help from sympathetic elements in the Swedish government but he stopped short of accusing Sweden of actually participating in the attack.
The Ambassador for his part was much taken aback by the news. He had asked for and received the name of the ship, Arctic Dream. Now he was going to be sending a coded message back to Stockholm inquiring about Arctic Dream and its crew. The Ambassador was very much concerned. Wallace didn’t believe Sweden was directly involved in the attack on Boston, but he might be afraid that elements of the Swedish government sympathetic to the Nazis were involved. Unless this was cleared up quickly there were going to be at the least major diplomatic consequences to future Swedish-American relations. At the worst, well the Ambassador didn’t want to even consider what the worst case scenario could be.
At the moment Wallace seemed more interested in getting to the bottom of the attack in Boston harbor then placing blame. The Swedish government needed to launch its own investigation and quickly to discover what had happened.
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